Angel
by Alaskapigeon
Summary: If someone you loved was dying, what would you do to save them? For Michelle, the answer is beyond life changing... Now Michelle must travel across a new land in a body she doesn't belong in. Reincarnation fic. Rated T for violence and language.
1. Chapter 1

_I ran my hands through her curly blonde hair and when my hand fell away, so did the curls. I bit my lip as I looked down at my sleeping angel, pale and imperfect on the hospital bed, wires running in and out of her, an interconnected highway of fluids to help her cling to life. I wouldn't let the tears fall here, in case she woke up. I would be strong. I would do the things a mother was supposed to do._

_I wondered to myself if this was my fault. When I had found out I was pregnant, I broke down into tears; my birth control had failed. I didn't ask for a baby, I didn't ask for a daughter, but once I got her, I realized the gift I'd been given. Every gift has a cost, but this one seemed more than worth it. And now she was being taken away from me. I tried to swallow the lump in my throat and calm my racing heart by matching my breath with the slow beeping of the machines surrounding my daughter, but it didn't help. Silently, I turned away, nails digging into my palms as I struggled to maintain my composure. _

_Outside the hospital room, I paced the sterile white hallways, the bright fluorescent light and smell of disinfectant helping me to disconnect from this world and take refuge deep inside my head, away from all the hurt and pain. Finally, I found a bench where I sat down and buried my face in my hands._

_I don't know how long I sat there, alone with the aching guilt that tormented me, before I felt someone sit down next to me. Eventually I looked up at him, tears streaming from my eyes. He didn't look too old, probably in his lower 30s at the latest, yet something about him made him feel ancient. He had jet black hair, the same color as his eyes which were staring at me much too intensely. He wore a gray suit and when he opened his mouth to speak, I noticed a scar running up his cheek from the corner of his lips._

"_What's the matter?" he asked, his voice soft._

_I tried to speak, but found that I couldn't make any noise. I gestured helplessly back the way I had come, from the oncology wing. His gaze followed the direction I was pointing and his eyes grew wide with understanding._

"_Oh. I see. I'm very sorry."_

"_My daughter," I managed to choke out, "has stage four osteosarcoma." He looked troubled. "Bone cancer," I added as an explanation._

"_I know what it is." For a moment his caring demeanor vanished, replaced by something darker, before instantly returning. "Can you take me to her room?" I must have looked confused, because he said, "I'm a doctor from out of state. I specialize in childhood cancer."_

_I still found the request oddly informal, but I nodded and managed to get up. He followed me as I walked, as if to my place on the gallows, back towards the room where my child was dying. I opened the door and stepped inside. "Shh…" I warned, "She's sleeping." He held a finger to his lips, signifying that he understood and stared down at her. She was so thin and pale. I had to look away._

"_She's beautiful," he whispered. The room was deathly quiet for a moment, and an unexplainable chill ran up my spine. I was suddenly very afraid. "What would you do to save her?"_

All around me there is nothing but darkness. There has never been anything but darkness here. Not since this was created, not since the beginning of time. No sunlight had ever reached the depths of my cell at the bottom of this endless ravine. No, not even fire lit the way here. Hell isn't like what you see in TV and comic books. There's no pool of lava, no gang of cackling demons, just cold, darkness, and silence. I shivered. My last cellmate had been taken away to the deeper levels not too long ago. Or maybe it was long ago. Without the sun or stars, time passed without anyway of measuring it. He wasn't too bad. He told me he had robbed a convenience store and shot the man working at the counter. He told me he hadn't meant to, but somehow I doubted him. Maybe it was the way his eyes moved when he spoke or the way his hands reached for the knife that was no longer there when he slept. Either way, he wasn't the kind of person you trusted. Not that anyone there is.

I don't understand how I could see despite the absence of light. Maybe being brought here changed me in some way. In any case, there wasn't much to see; a dirty mattress in one corner, a broken mirror on the wall, the steep walls of the canyon rising up around me into infinity. And this was the luxury suite. I wasn't here to be punished. I hadn't done anything worse than the average person. I only saved my daughter's life. Sometimes I just wished I could run my hands through her hair one more time or see her bright blue eyes gazing up at me… She was so beautiful before she got sick. But this was better. She was up there somewhere, older now, in a body I would never see, dancing, going to school, talking to boys. That was what kept me sane, the knowledge that she was safe. I paced the floor of my prison like an animal in a cage, back and forth in front of the glass shards that had once been a mirror. I caught my reflection out of the corner of my eyes as I passed by, again and again. I didn't look like myself anymore. My hair was black and straight, a veil I was cursed with. My eyes were black too; soulless. I had the same features I did when I had been alive, and they reminded me of my daughter as well. There was some comfort in that. I finally sat on the edge of the mattress and passed into the state of consciousness closest to sleep for me. I couldn't really sleep anymore. That's how I spent the next eternity.

"Hey. Get up," someone said harshly, and I felt something hard hit me in the side of the head. I scrambled to my feet. Standing in front of me, holding a few rocks, was a lesser demon. This one was as ass ugly as the rest of them. He was some horrific combination of human and Ekans. He had a human head, arms, and body, but rather than legs he had two purple and yellow tails where they should have been, each ending in rattles. His eyes were yellow and had oval irises like an Ekans, and when his mouth opened I could see fangs instead of teeth. "Somebody wants to see you," he hissed.

Somebody wanted to see me? In the years I had spent here in my own personal corner of hell, there had been no deviation in what happened, other than the constant coming and going of cellmates, most of whom weren't too bad, since the rest were in the inward circles. I followed the demon numbly as he led me to the edge of my prison. He muttered something under his breath and a circle of light appeared on the ground around us. One clammy, calloused hand grasped my shoulder and I felt an odd pulling sensation inside of me, as if I were being turned inside out. I closed my eyes, thoughts racing too fast for me to even comprehend.

When I opened my eyes, I was standing in sunlight. I blinked as my eyes adjusted to the light, but it was useless. I was completely blinded. A warm hand touched my shoulder and I jumped backwards, unused to the feeling of joy that radiated through me. Finally my eyes cleared and I could see the form of a beautiful woman in front of me. She smiled and with shock, I realized she looked amazingly like my daughter; the same hair and eyes, even similar features. My mouth fell open.

"Do I look familiar?" she asked.

I nodded, speechless.

"I was born in 1643, in what is now Estonia. I am one of your ancestors, one of your daughter's ancestors. I've come to give you a message, Michelle." Her head tilted to the side and she looked amused at how shocked I was. I realized how wretched I must look compared to her. Suddenly I felt the urge to look around, the sensation of being watched unbearable. There was nothing around us but a grassy meadow extending as far as I could see, but as my head whipped back and forth, I heard gentle laughing. I looked back at the woman in front of me. "Those are just my friends. They won't hurt you, but what I have to say is important. Do you understand?"

"Yes," I said, my voice coming out as a squeak. When was the last time I had spoken? I couldn't remember.

"Do you want to go back to earth?"

If my heart had still been beating, it would've stopped. "I can go back?"

"Yes," she responded, and that one simple word filled me with joy like I had never felt. It was almost indescribable, how I suddenly felt alive again, the sunlight already warming my cold, dead skin. I could almost feel the blood running through my veins, the feel of wind against my face, my daughter's hand in mine. "But there is one condition." And just like that, my rising hopes slammed into the ground.

"What kind of condition?" After all I had been through, both on earth and beyond it, I should have known better to believe in anything that was too good to be true.

The woman winked at me. "It's a secret, but think about it, Michelle, could it be any worse than where you already were?" At these words, the meadow around me seemed to become dimmer, almost translucent, and I could once again see the deep pit that I had been cast into, trapped in for years and years. Still, I wasn't quite ready to make another deal with a creature that I didn't understand.

"I don't know…" I admitted.

"What if I told you that you could see your daughter?"

I froze, unable to feel anything but numb with the desire that radiated from the very center of me. "Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. Anything," I said, almost begging.

She smiled sadly. "You never deserved any of this," she told me, "Many people do, but you don't at all."

The last thing I was before I was swallowed by blackness was her face; the face of an angel.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi again, people reading this ^_~ So this is my newest work, Angel. The other ones aren't abandoned so much as… driven three hours into the woods, told to get out of the car, and then left to find their way home. IF THEY MAKE IT HOME THEY GET TO STAY! (But they probably won't…) Anyways, I'll apologize for the fact that my documents are getting transferred to Fanficnet weird, and that my prose in this one isn't quite up to what I'd like it to be. However, I'm enjoying writing it and hope that I can (finally) complete it in a reasonable amount of time! If you review, I'll try to respond as best I can. There probably won't be that many of you though, so it shouldn't be too difficult. NYAN.**

I woke up to darkness and steel bars. For a moment, I thought I had ended back up right where I started. It would be fitting for such a cruel trick to be played on someone stuck in the bowels of hell. Then the cage started moving.

"Wake up, you," growled a man's deep voice, but it was a _man's _voice, not a demon's or a spirit's. I scrambled to my feet, only to fall back over. My legs didn't seem to work. In fact, it felt like I wasn't standing upright either, and I couldn't make myself stand up. Then I looked down and saw that I didn't have legs, or at least not human legs.

"WHAT THE-!" I was cut off by the man shaking my cage again, and this time I managed to stay up. I closed my eyes and opened them, hoping that what I saw would change, but no, I still had four white, furry legs ending in sharp black claws. Suddenly the wall in front of me slid open and the room was flooded in light. I looked around and saw about thirty other cages, each one housing a Pokemon, though most were fairly small. "Oh God," I muttered, "I can't really be…" I picked one paw up off the ground and stared at it. There really wasn't any way of denying it. I had been turned into a Pokemon. I shuddered. But Pokemon were animals, people made them battle and perform in contests. I couldn't battle, could I? My thoughts were interrupted when I was drenched in water.

I looked up, disgusted to see that what I thought was a wall was really the back door of a moving truck. The sky outside was dark grey and cloudy, and the rain outside was torrential. Yet… the grass was so green, and I saw… trees! Trees, flowers, houses, all things I hadn't seen in years. I looked around at the other Pokemon and was torn between euphoria, confusion, and horror at my predicament. On one hand, I was alive again; I could feel my heart beating in my chest, and each beat was like a symphony. On the other hand, I was a freakin' Pokemon. As the rain pounded down, I involuntarily let out a yowl.

"Quiet, you," the man jeered. I couldn't really see him. He was outside somewhere, and I could only see his silhouette by the edge of the door occasionally. Realizing that I was going to be cold and wet for a while, I curled into a ball, hiding my face in my thick, white fur. Maybe while I was waiting for things to get better, I could figure out what kind of Pokemon I was. The idea still made me uneasy, but wasn't anything better than what I had been through? The woman I had seen was right about that. And she said I might see my daughter again…

Against all odds, I must have fallen asleep. I forgot how nice sleep was… When I woke up, I felt someone's hand running through my fur. It was pleasant. I got up and stretched, then heard a gasp and the hand withdrew itself from my cage. I peered out of the bars curiously, and was so surprised I sat down. Two sky blue eyes gazed at me from the other side of my cage. Curly blonde hair framed the face of the person who had been petting me. I was face to face with my daughter.

"Lily!" I called out to her, but she didn't seem to understand.

"Poor thing," she murmured. "Absol aren't found anywhere near here. That jerk must've taken you a long way from your home." Tentatively, she reached through the bars again and stroked my fur.

"Lily…" Of course she didn't recognize me or hear me. I was a Pokemon, an Absol apparently. Why hadn't I realized this sooner? My heart sunk low in my chest.

"Wait here," she whispered, "I'm going to get you out of here." She dashed off; I caught a glimpse of blue and white sneakers, shorts, and a red sweatshirt. Oddly enough, my first thought was, who the hell is letting her run around in the rain in shorts? Next, I was worried about her going anywhere near the guy who owned this van. From the sounds of him, nothing he was doing was legal in any way. I waited impatiently for a few minutes, wishing I could see my daughter's face again, to know that she was really there, alive and healthy.

She came back, followed by a heavy set man in a red uniform. The guy looked like a total freak show, about in his mid-20s, wearing gray pants and red everything else. His eyes were shifty and he mumbled something that I couldn't hear. Lily scowled and dug into her pocket, before pulling out a few bills and handing them to him. The man took them, shoved them into his pants, and bent forward, undoing the lock on my cage. His face was only a few inches from mine and I could smell the horrible tang of onions and something else on his breath, maybe alcohol. I gagged.

"Here you go, ma'am," he grunted with a hint of sarcasm, and scooped me up before unceremoniously dropping me into her arms. She nearly fell over, which was understandable, considering I weighed nearly one hundred pounds. I growled at him and struggled until she set me down on the ground, my paws sinking into the cool, wet grass and mud. The man stalked away, back towards the cab of the truck, and Lily rubbed my head, trying to comfort what she must have seen as a frightened animal.

"Let's get out of here," she said, and started heading towards the line of trees in front of us. I followed after her, still slightly dazed and unable to fully grasp what was happening. She led me along a path I hadn't been able to see from where I was locked in my cage; it was hidden by the dense forest around us. Looking around, I realized that it must have been an old forest. Most of the evergreens were so tall that they blocked out any light that managed to make it through the clouds, though they also shielded us both from the pouring rain. "That guy is there every Saturday," she told me, and I jumped, surprised by her voice. "Did I scare you?" she frowned, before adding, "I hope he didn't hurt you."

"He didn't," I reassured her, though I knew she couldn't understand what I was saying, whatever noise I was making must have been reassuring.

"Anyways," she continued, "I always want to help the Pokemon he's got, but there's so many, and you can't buy Pokemon without a trainer's license. I only got mine yesterday." She whipped a card out of the pocket of her sweatshirt with her picture, name, and eight blank spaces for badges on it. "I haven't actually battled yet, or gone anywhere or anything. My parents are pretty strict, but I think they're going to let me go soon. I think they're just nervous because I was really sick when I was a little kid." She looked troubled, but I was even more shocked. _Parents? _I felt stupid that I hadn't thought about it before. Of course she would have an adopted family. She was only five when I… I didn't finish the thought. She would've needed someone to take care of her. My panicking was interrupted when Lily asked, "So what should I name you?"

Name? "My name is Michelle, don't you remember?" I said miserably.

"Yeah, it's no fun not having a name, is it?" She sighed contemplatively, and blew a piece of hair out of her face. "I don't know too much about Absol other than that they're found out in the rainforest… How about Moonbeam?"

"What? There is no way you're calling me Moonbeam."

"That wasn't a good response. Maybe Darkness?" She tilted her head to the side, as if deep in thought.

"Darkness? Did you go through a gothic phase while I was gone?"

"Not that either? Hmm… Oh. Absol are the disaster Pokemon, right? What about Tempest?"

Tempest… The name had a ring to it, and something about it seemed right. Plus, judging by the other names, it wasn't getting better. I nodded my head, "Yeah, sure, that'll work."

Lily smiled, an expression so radiant and full of bliss that it made me forget everything we had both gone through. It made all of it worth it. "That's good you like that name. I like it too." She ruffled the fur on my head again, and I wasn't sure whether to be amused or annoyed. About then, we stepped out from the cover of the trees and back into the rain. Lily looked up at the sky, as if totally unaware that we were getting drenched. "Wow, it's getting late, we'd better get home. Come on, I'll race you!" She took off running, her sneakers squelching in the mud. I stood still for a moment, before taking off after her, my paws kicking up dirt that got stuck in my fur, but at the moment I didn't care. I just took pleasure in the ability to run and jump and feel the rain and chase after the only person in the world who mattered to me.

We raced past houses and trees, down alley ways, all throughout the unfamiliar small town. I wanted to lose myself in the game of getting back to her home, but at the same time, part of me carefully kept track of the things I saw. Where were we? How many places had this kind of never ending rain? It was so green here and I hadn't recognized many of the other Pokemon in that van. Eventually, we stopped, breathless in front of an older, yet nice looking house. She looked over at me, still smiling. "Oh. We're really muddy. Kathy won't like this."

"Who's Kathy?" My question was understandably ignored, and instead of answering, Lily pulled out a key and opened the door. Stepping inside, out of the rain, I involuntarily shook myself from my head to my tail, spraying water and mud everywhere.

"Lily!" someone yelled from another room. My ears swiveled towards the voice, and almost instantly my head turned, pinpointing the direction it was coming from. I found myself looking at a short, chubby woman with red hair. Her hands were on her hips and she was glaring in my direction, yet somehow she seemed very motherly. I saw that behind her façade of anger there was affection, and that calmed me.

"Oops," Lily said quietly, "Heh."

"Exactly what did you bring back to the house?" I subconsciously licked my paw and tried to wipe some of the mud off of me. I saw the woman's lips twitch as she tried not to smile.

"Well… erm… I found her downtown, with that guy who always has all of the Pokemon."

The smile disappeared. "You what? Haven't I told you not to go anywhere near him?"

Lily shrunk back against me. I felt like I should've been upset, but at the same time, that guy was a creep. At least somebody was looking out for her. "Sorry," she mumbled.

The woman's face softened. "Well, the poor thing looks like she's had a rough time, and it is nice for you to be starting out with more than one Pokemon…"

Lily's face brightened. "She can stay inside tonight, right? Before we have to leave? It's raining too hard outside."

"Yes, Lily, she can stay."

She squealed and ran up to the woman, hugging her. Jealousy gnawed at my heart, but I pushed it away. It wasn't their fault I couldn't be here. "Thank you, Kathy." Oh. So that's who Kathy was. I turned my head away from the scene. Eventually, Kathy pulled away.

"Why don't you take her upstairs and finish packing your things. Shouldn't you introduce her to your little friend, too?"

"Oh yeah!" Lily spun around, running down a hallway and up a flight of stairs. I watched for a moment, both amused and bewildered by her ceaseless energy, before running after her.

The stairs lead to another hallway, ending in a door covered in bright posters and stickers. Lily swiped at the door handle, knocked it open and ran into the room. I followed her in and looked around. Like the door, posters hung all over the walls, along with pictures of her at different ages and of Pokemon. The room itself was filthy; the floor was covered in piles of clothes, magazines, wrappers, and half eaten food. Blankets and sheets were hanging off of the bed, and several Pokedolls had been knocked off of it onto the floor. Curled up in the middle of the bed, one eye open watching me suspiciously, was a green lizard-like Pokemon. Lily picked it up, out of its nest of blankets, and cradled it in her arms. It yawned and stretched lazily.

"Tempest," Lily said, holding the Treecko out to me, "This is Rico."

"Hi, cutie," the reptilian Pokemon mumbled, still half asleep.

I felt my eyes widen involuntarily. "You can talk!"

"Apparently. So can you. And her," he gestured to Lily with one claw, before scratching the side of his head thoughtfully.

"But… that's not…" I babbled incoherently. Rico jumped out of Lily's arms and walked over to me on all fours. He stared at me for a moment, before jamming his face into my fur. "Hey, watch it!" I protested.

"You act like this is all new to you." He pulled his face out of my fur, causing me to sigh in relief. He looked up at me, his eyes dim as if he were looking at something far awar. "Is it?"

"Well…" I wondered how much I should tell him. Would he even believe me? Could it be dangerous? Would he get frightened and attack me? I decided to avoid the question. "It's a long story. Maybe I'll tell you someday."

He blinked slowly. "I get it. Whenever you're ready," he added cryptically, before clambering back onto the bed. He was oddly clumsy for a Treecko. Lily had watched the short exchanged with an amused look on her face and a twinkle in her eye.

"I'm glad you guys are friends already," she said excitedly. "Since we're going to leave tomorrow. I only got Rico today, but he's really friendly already, and it's cool that you are too." She wrapped her arms around me and buried her face in my fur. I felt my heart swell up and nuzzled her shoulder. My baby was hugging me… sort of. She tried to pick me up, succeeded in lifting me a few inches off of the ground, and then dropped me. "Um. I was trying to put you on the bed?" I nodded, showing that I understood, before jumping up on the bed, trying to stay at least a couple feet away from Rico. I ended up curling up on the end of it. Lily turned off the lights and managed to get under the covers between the two of us. In the dark, her breathing slowed, and the hyper activeness and excitement that usually surrounded her faded. Soon Rico was asleep, his legs occasionally twitching as he dreamt. I started to nod off when I heard her whisper, "Tempest, can I tell you something?" I lifted my head and looked at her, curled up with her eyes half open, reminding me of the unpleasant memory of her in a hospital bed. "I'm scared," she started, "When I was little I got… really sick. I was in the hospital a lot. My mom used to spend nights at the hospital and when she had to go home for something, she'd drive back right away. Well one day she didn't come back. Some aunt I'd never met came and told me she'd gotten in a car wreck." She paused, dangling over the edge of sleep. "I just… don't know if this is the right thing to do. If this is what she wants." My eyes filled up with tears and I rubbed my head against her shoulder, attempting to comfort and reassure her as best as I could. "But I'm glad I found you and Rico," she added, and then she was asleep. As I went to adjust myself so that I could get some sleep, I noticed what she hadn't; Kathy standing in the doorway, tears in her eyes, one hand over her heart. Eventually she walked away, and I slept.

"_What would you do to save her?" the man asked, his eyes full of malevolence._

"_What- what do you mean?" I was shaking. The way he looked at her, like a lion watching a gazelle, made me twitch and shudder._

_He grinned, showing a mouthful of teeth that looked oddly sharp and silver. "I can make you a deal."_

_My heart started beating wildly, though I hadn't put two and two together yet. All I knew was that he was offering to save my baby, the perfect little girl I had been holding onto for five years, who had been trapped in this broken, defective body. Life wasn't fair but here… here was a chance. The man bent forward, those dagger-like teeth less than an inch from my ear, and he started to whisper._

"_Michelle…"_


End file.
